Why are stove controls like this?

Question

Most UIs that show incremental controls provide consistent levels. For example, a volume control will incrementally change sound from inaudible to maximum levels of loudness with a consistent change between each level.

Stovetop designs seem to have wildly different rules. For example, here's what I see on mine:

There are nine levels before the user even gets to a medium level of heat, then three medium levels, and only one high.

Since boiling water is a key task and can only be done on the highest level, there is usually an accelerator in modern stove UIs (example: a long press on the Plus sign boosts the level to high). But why might there be so much nuance in the lower levels vs the higher heat levels, to the point where it breaks consistency with a familiar pattern (that isn't really reflected in the "consistent bar chart" UI?)

Answer 1

I'd say this was just crappy design and engineering. The heights of the bars clearly show a linear relationship left to right. ( which isn't reflected in your descriptions below )

There may be some good cooking reason for having more of the range devoted to variable low temperature control. But the right way to display this would be the heights of the bars following a curve, not a straight line.